Booth's visit to the Surratt Boarding House after the assassination

[Rick Smith]

Laurie,

You posted earlier that Booth may have had his gunbelt on under his frock coat. A witness, I forget who, said that booth was dressed for riding. This would mean, as Joe noted earlier, that his trousers would be tucked into his riding boots, which came to mid thigh and that he would probably be wearing a sack, or business style coat. As far as the idea that he tucked a soft slouch hat in his waistband; I doubt it.
I tried this last evening with one of my slouch hats and it is not easy to tuck into the waistband and when done, it makes your coat stick way out in the back. One thing is for sure; Booth would have wanted to look good while doing what he did. This means nice line for his clothing. He was known for wearing clothes well. So, my feeling is that there was no gun belt worn into the theatre; he got that later at Surratt's. I do not believe that he changed clothes after leaving Ford's, or that he even had a change of clothing. Someone else, Jim Garrett, I rthink, said it earlier; Booth was travelling light.

Rick